DON'T COUNT HIM OUT: Rick Perry's Plan To Make The Most Shocking Comeback In Modern Political History

AP After months of languishing at the bottom of the GOP presidential pack, Rick Perry is ready to make a comeback, proclaiming last night that he hopes to be the "Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses."

On its face, the remark looks like a ridiculously shameless pop culture plug. It also seems like a longshot for Perry, who is polling in the high single digits and still battling the perception that he is the human incarnation of Yosemite Sam.

But as the clock ticks down to January, Perry and his senior advisors say they are right where they want to be — gaining fourth-quarter momentum in the Hawkeye State state. If what they say is true than Perry is poised to make what could be the craziest comeback in the history of the Iowa caucuses.

In a wide-ranging interview with Business Insider before last night's debate, Perry communications director Ray Sullivan outlined the campaign's strategy going into the home stretch:

"Iowa is critically important to Governor Perry and our campaign, in terms of keeping positive momentum going into New Hampshire and then on to South Carolina," Sullivan said.

He explained that the campaign has a three-part game plan to pick up momentum and win over Iowa voters, many of whom are still undecided and unsatisfied:

Shape the campaign narrative to focus on Perry's job creation record in Texas, his fiscal and social conservatism, and his plans for overhauling Washington

Blitz the media to get Perry's face in front of Iowa voters, both through paid advertisements and TV/radio appearances

Mobilize and augment the campaign's activist and grassroots organization on the ground in Iowa. Sullivan added that a "strike force" of hundreds of volunteers, mostly from Texas, will descend on Iowa around Christmas to phone bank, put up signs, knock on doors etc..

In many ways, what Sullivan described is a return to Perry's original narrative — the one that made the Texas Governor seem like a viable, even formidable, presidential contender in the first place. That storyline — which emphasizes Perry's faith, his conservative Texas record, and his Tea Party street cred — got lost amid the campaign's early stumbles and several spectacularly bad debate performances.

But Republican operatives on the campaign trail and in Washington tell Business Insider that it looks like the Perry team has finally gotten its sea legs.

"It's a challenge for any candidate to get their message through the hurdles and filters of the presidential campaign," Sullivan conceded. "But we're back to good old-fashioned retail campaigning — we are now in a position to communicate directly with Iowa voters."

The question now is whether it is too late for the Texas Governor to convince those voters that he is the man to beat Mitt Romney. If he can, he has a real shot at replacing Newt Gingrich as the anti-Romney candidate.

Given the whiplash volatility of the 2012 race, a new Perry surge doesn't seem that farfetched. Consider: Two months ago, Newt Gingrich was an afterthought whose campaign team had fired him. Before that, Herman Cain came from out of nowhere and somehow managed to pull the entire political press corps down the rabbit hole.

"The polls are so prone to change," Sullivan told Business Insider. "The person that you think is the frontrunner today may not be the frontrunner tomorrow."

Veteran GOP operatives — including Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, head of the Republican Governors Association and one of the best-regarded strategists in the party — warn not to underestimate Perry and his campaign team.

When I asked Sullivan to explain these comments, he noted that "Perry is a tireless and effective campaigner." Barbour, he said, was likely referring to Perry's "unbroken record of election wins — his ability to communicate with voters, his ability to organize, and his financial prowess."

Sullivan added that, after Romney, Perry still has the strongest financial standing in the 2012 race. He would not go into details about current fundraising, but made it clear that the campaign's financial strength isn't just about raising money — it's about knowing how to spend it too. After 20+ years in Texas politics, Perry's close-knit team literally has campaign spending down to a science.

With this vision in mind, it's not hard to see where Perry got the Tebow comparison. The Texas Governor may not have the mechanics or the skills to play at this level, but he does know how to win. And as his Texas opponents will attest, Perry can be down for the whole race, but in the fourth quarter, it's a different story.